Trick or Treating

The Overlord has had a Tinkerbell costume for some time now. She wore it at Dragon*Con and we're planning to have her wear it for Halloween. The weather has turned cold, so we bought a white long sleeved shirt and white pants. We were more excited than she was, at least at first. The first house we went to was a bust; the person walked away when we rang the door bell. It turns out that having your porch light on is a code 'round here that you participate. No porch light, no candy. Most of the people on our street are Halloween Scrooges and had their lights off. But between walking the whole street and a few houses on the main street in our neighborhood, she had fun and figured out this whole trick or treating thing.

We came in when we realized how cold she was getting. She was having too much fun to tell us that she was cold. She got to eat one piece of candy and then to bed, although she had a bit of a meltdown when she couldn't take the light sticks and a pumpkin into bed with her. Hopefully she has fun trick or treating dreams.

Simple Joys

We gave the little one a pack of magnetic letters - you know, the ones that you put on your refrigerator. She's exclaiming "Those Summer's letters! That a B! That a O!" with her Daddy. She is so happy and excited!

Little one can finally really jump - both feet off the floor. She can't stick the landing yet, but she's working on it.

Crunching Leaves

We were outside on a lovely autumn day today. We told the little one to go crunch some leaves that we had raked up into a pile. She obediently took a bite of one - after all, isn't that how you crunch apples and crackers and snacks? She didn't think it was as much fun as we had made it seem. I felt so bad!

We demonstrated how to make them crunch and rustle by stepping on them, and she did think that was fun.

Not Yet

Had to convince the little one that her Tinkerbell costume might not be the most comfortable for her car ride. She agreed to wait until Saturday to wear it. Can't wait for Halloween!

Summer Dragon

Summer has recently decided that she is a dragon. The Paper Bag Princess is one of her favorite stories. Like her father, she tends to be sympathetic to the to dragon in the story. She calls it the Dragon Book and often requests it by that name.

A few days ago she decided that she was a dragon. She refers herself as Summer Dragon and walks around saying "rawr". She has also started picking up small items around the house and referring to them as "treasure." Apparently Summer Dragon needs to increase the size of her hoard. Luckily for us, dragons seem to take lots of naps and eat snacks.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Today was one of those great days! Yesterday the wind really kicked up and Summer declared that she wanted to fly a kite. We didn't get a chance, so when today was still windy, we decided to take advantage of it.

We headed out to a local park, White Oak Park, which as it turns out is MUCH larger than we ever knew. We joined several other families out in a large field, all flying kites with young children. The field consisted of gently rolling hills, overlooking a creek and copses of woods. There was a birthday party in a pavilion close to us and down the hill a playground full of children. It was like an idyllic scene from some movie.

We flew a kite with long red tails. Summer didn't like the kite being up too high in the sky, so I pulled it down low. She had a great time chasing the tails and grabbing them when the wind make the kite dip down.

After a while, she wanted to go to the playground so we headed down hill. The playground was full of kids from another birthday party so we had to be careful around the larger kids. We found a slide that was designed for the younger set and she had a great time. It was at least twice as long as her slide at home, so she felt quite brave. We eventually moved on to a plastic pipe that she could climb through and then a large multi-level "barn" that had stairs and platforms and bridges, with another slide that she loved. She had to share this one with two other little ones, which was good for her. She had to wait her turn and practice being patient. For the most part she did a really good job.

We went down to the little creek and she splashed her hands in it, and threw a few pebbles into the water. Then we went back up the hill and flew the kite a little more. When we all got hungry, we packed up and headed to a restaurant. By the time we came home, Summer was tired and headed off to bed, an hour early. She was tired enough to be cranky, but all we had to do was to ask her "What was your favorite thing at the park?" and she was all smiles. We'll definitely be heading back to the park, maybe even every weekend while we're having the nice fall weather.